Encore Hotels, which runs restaurant chains such as Rajdhani in overseas markets and Revival in India, is looking for a private equity/venture capital partner to raise around Rs 75 crore to fund its expansion plan.
“We’re looking to rope in a private equity player or venture capitalist to fund expansion plans for our Revival chain of restaurants. We’re in talks with several firms and expect to consummate the deal by the end of this fiscal,” said Kamlesh Barot, director at Encore Hotels.
The company is planning to set up three more restaurants of its flagship fine dining brand ‘Revival’ this year. It currently has one ‘Revival’ restaurant in Mumbai. Three more restaurants each are being planned in Bangalore, Delhi and the western suburbs of Mumbai. The investment required per restaurant would be around Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore which would be funded through debt. “We are looking to raise a debt of around Rs 3 crore for them this year,” added Barot.
In 2011-2012, the company plans to set up 15 more Revival restaurants pan-India, which would be funded by PE or venture capitalist funds. The size of each restaurant would be in the range of 2,000-3,000 square feet. The company that has two Rajdhani restaurants in Dubai and Sydney, is also looking to venture into the US, the UK and further into Australia.
The new chain of Revival restaurants will cater to the local tastes with vegetarian offerings ranging from all the coasts of India. “Consumers are getting tired of Rajdhani’s Gujarati thali. Our new chain will have organic food, trans fat food and cuisines will vary and cater to tastes of the local population,” added Barot. The company has also started advertising on social networking sites to pull a younger crowd into their restaurants.
Barot’s family founded the Rajdhani chain of vegetarian restaurants in India, which was then spun off as a joint venture with Mirah Group, promoted by the Goenka’s. A split in the business in 2010 saw Goenka’s keeping the Rajdhani franchise and brand for India, while Encore Hotels kept the rights to the Revival chain.
Source: My Digital FC